Canon XF300 real life field experiences

[Jamie Huckle]

Hi

I’m hunting any real life experience of anyone whose spent much time using a Canon XF300

I’m very much use to a Canon XLH1 and Sony PMW EX3 both semi shoulder mountable and with eye pieces

So my question is the much smaller new Canon XF300 comfortable to use and could you withstand a steady standing interview for any length of time?

Thanks for your time
Jamie

[Tim Polster]

Jamie, you probably want to post this in the XF forum here. But I will answer with my experience.

The XF300 is a large 1/3" chip camera. Around the size of an EX-3. The XF300 is very well designed and I think is pretty comfortable to hand hold. But, 5.5 pounds is not something you want to hold for extended periods of time.

Sadly, a lot of cameras do not have non-tripod use factored into the camera design. I have always liked the JVC design and wish the other manufacturers would create something similar.

So to answer your question, very comfortable to hand hold but I would not want the interview to be more than 5 minutes.

[Martin Catt]

One of the first things I built for my XF300 was a shoulder mount. My last "true" camcorder was an XL2, and I'd grown to appreciate its form factor. The XF300 is deceptively lighter than the XL2 -- once you get rid of all that tape transport mechanism, it's amazing how light a camera can get -- but without that third support point, the shoulder pad, it starts to get heavy and hard to hold still for more than a few minutes. I shot a bunch of test footage off a monopod, which was acceptable, but didn't have that fluid motion you can get from shooting off the shoulder. 360 degree pans on a monopod are an adventure. Any pans more than, say, 90 degrees on a monopod can be tough

I tend to build my ancillary gear as opposed to buy, simply because of my background and the fact that I'd just dropped $7K on the camera. A quick look through the B&H catalog shows a lot of relatively inexpensive shoulder rigs, plus a few REAL expensive ones. The nice thing about building is that I can add features not found in store-bought models. For instance, my shoulder mount has a "kickstand" that folds out from underneath, letting me set the whole rig aside and upright, camera and all. I saw a news crew cameraman at an airshow I was shooting at watch me flip out the stand and set the camera on the ground. The look on his face as he glanced at his monstrous JVC perched on his shoulder as he waited in the 100 degree sun for the next shot said it all.

Martin

[Robert Turchick]

I have built my DSLR shoulder rig to also accept the XF300. Works like a charm as it's all Manfrotto QR plates.
I have also just pinned the 300 against my chest and used the image stabiliser which yielded very good results. Monopod is what I use to get above crowds.
Lots of ways to make it a more ENG style camera. And pretty cheaply too.

[Al Bergstein]

I agree with all the statements, and Robert's in particular. It's not for extended handholding, but the IS is very good. I often hand hold a longtime with it. But i do prefer a tripod. It's a great camera though.i wouldn't trade for the JVC and have friends with one that want to sell theirs.if you want long handholding chevk out the xf100.